I'm so glad you got a friend for your doeling! 5 weeks old is a little young for him to be leaving mom. I let my kids stay with mom for 8 weeks.
Check into goattalk they have a goat forum. And Backyard chickens have a lot of goat people on their forum.
Yes, goats do know their names! I was at a goat farm that had 70 milking goats. They were all inside for milking, waiting in a pen for their turn. As the woman was talking about her goats she was saying their names...and as she did the goat would look up at her. With that many goats, I was suprised that the woman could even remember their names! But there was no doubt that the goats knew they were being talked about and they looked up at the woman each time she said their name. They are smart animals! Mine all know their names.
A good fence is the only way to keep goats away from what you don't want them to eat. And the saying goes, "if water goes through the fence, chances are the goat will be able to too!" lol. I have read about your little girl and know that you have already found that out. You might want to try electric fencing.
I really enjoy having goats. Once you get the kinks worked out, I'm sure you will to.

I have two Pygmy goats. They are my first ever goats and I really enjoy them except they do eat everything except the weeds! My goats free range and I have found ways to keep them away from my gardens with a motion activated waterer! It's the greatest thing! The noise scares them off and they have learned not to go near although they still occasionally test.

As for intelligence, I think they are quite bright and I have read that they have the average intelligence of a dog. They are capricious with makes me really enjoy them. Mine definitely know the word "no" and thier names.

As backlane said, once you get the kinks worked out it will be fine.

Good luck. Just keep reading all you can about these dear little goats!

Here is a link that might be useful: Goat Care

OK, so I am the crazy one on here, but I had two pygmy bottle babies that I actually had house trained! I worked at a vet clinic, and since they needed feedings during the day, they learned to ride in the truck with me like a dog!
Goats are VERY smart, especially the pygmies. Mine will get out and just stand there, just to prove they can!
We have horses too, so we already had hot wire up. The goats don't test the hot wire, and that is the only way I have been able to keep mine in. My fence set up right now is T-posts, and field fence with a strand of hot on the top. Hope this is of some help!

Ohhhhhh....motion activated waterer. I like that idea!

My next set of Pygmy goats will be bottle fed. Mine are not the friendliest but oh are they smart.

Backlanelady, check out the link below for the Scarecrow. This is the one I use and it really works well on a 9V battery!

Here is a link that might be useful: The Scarecrow

Congratulations on your new goats! We too are new goat owners and I have been amazed at how friendly, personable and smart they are. We bought a 2 year old nubian for milking and a young nubian female for companionship. Just finished an 8'x16' "goat barn" last week.

They are so neat! Now I wish we had owned goats sooner.

Hello everyone! Thanks for all the input! I am LOVING these goats! I love my dogs and my horses, but these creatures are so interesting. Poor Princess has been confined to babysitting the "little guy" (doesn't have a name yet), so she has not been out eating my plants and bushes for a few days. He nearly lost his voice after the first few days of hollering for his Mom.....it broke my heart. And yes, I do think that 5 weeks is pretty young to leave Mom. I almost let him stay another week, but Princess was needing a companion....not that she acts it now. She has changed so much....so much more affectionate. She is establishing her dominance over the little guy....butts him when I try to feed them. They are doing fine in the chain link pen, which we finally got secure so she couldn't break out. The little guy actually got out somehow, (we think he squeezed thru an opening close to the door, which we baracaded and seems to be holding him in) and he was right at the door wanting back in with Princess, which I thought was good. My husband got them both out and brought them up to the house yesterday morning, thinking he was doing a good thing. We were getting ready to put up hay in the afternoon and I told him, I didn't have time to watch them. We like to never caught the little guy. Finally, we put a leash on Princess and led her back to the pen, and he followed. We can't catch him at all. He is fast and hasn't been fooled with at all by the previous owner. Even though Princes was the escape artist, she would let us catch her. So, i have been working with him, trying to get him used to me. The only problem is when I try to feed him, to entice him to trust me, she butts him away. He will get close enough to eat out of my hand, but won't let me touch him otherwise. Tonight, I put her on the leash outside the pen and put a little crushed corn in a bowl. Eventually he let me touch him and I began to pet him....he froze! He liked it. He let me pet him a lot. I didn't try to pick him up....thought that was good enough for tonite. I've caught him before and held him and he didn't fight, but he wouldn't ever let himself be caught. I think we turned a corner tonite though. He is so sweet and so soft like a kitten. Princess' hair is much coarser.
OK, so tell me.....how much grain can I feed him now, safely. I have read stuff, and the lady that i bought him from said not to feed him too much. How much is too much? Also, I posted on another web site and was told to start giving them wormer right away. He is a pygmy and I'm not sure what she is. (Can anyone tell me how to post pictures on the site?) They are both grazing. I'm trying to procure some mineral supplement. Do you put it out for them to eat as much as they want? HELP!

oh my god...my 2 pygmies just turned 1 last month and they are the best pets ever! no offense to the dogs and cats ect..but thet truly are my babies. They kept me busy on refencing and building for about 6 months due to escapes! But we've finally got it covered now,thank the lord. But there's nothing I wouldn't do for them and they're so easy to have and care for. Even when I do their nails...(hooves) my husband holds them and they fall asleep while I work on them! LOL!
They're the best,,I wouldn't trade them for anything...
enjoy

On Sunday I will be again (I can't wait). My goats I had were crazy and you might have read about them on here before. I had these goats that would run like maniacs in the corner whenever I came near and months later it still happened so I sold them. The lady that brought them says she sits out with them for 4 hours at a time just holding and petting them and they still scream on the top of their lungs. It has been 5 days and she said she has not really seen any progress, they still yell but just not as loud. they are probably losing their voices. Well I had to tell her my no return policy. LOL

Something was wrong with those goats but I was still attached to them. when I was piddling round the yard I would see them peeking at me and watching my every move. Now they did act different if we were on opposite sides of the fence. Sometimes I would go out there and sit in a lawn chair and one would pick up his bucket and shake it at me. LOL. When they make you feel like hell and then do those cute little things it makes you love em. Oh they were Pygmies. Maybe they were inbred or something??

But on the brighter side I pick up the new ones on Sunday and they are both bottle babies and cute as all get out. They are Nigerian Dwarfs...wethers, with blue eyes. One polled and the other dehorned, 3 months old.

This lady locally has THE MOST interesting Fainting goats I have ever seen. She and a friend are doing different breeding combinations to improve markings and she has all kinds of neat combinations. I am on her waiting list but it is hard to find one without horns. She does not disbud so I have to wait for a polled one to come along.

I have to include this photo of a Fainting goat she has. Is this not the coolest looking goat??
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MsJay, your babies are darling. Your story is kind of worrisome to me. I haven't seen your other postings but I can relate. My new baby will not let me catch him. If I do catch him, he will be real still and let me pet him and cuddle him, but when I put him down, he runs. Surely he won't be like yours. He is 6 weeks old now. He was not handled before I got him a week ago. He will eat out of my hand, and let me barely pet him, but I have to forcibly catch him.

Casi, Most people have the pleasant experience. I had posted questions on here months ago and people gave me advice on how to get them to accept me as a friend rather than a foe. I did everything they told me to but nothing worked. Others had said they wound up bringing the goats back and I decided that would be best for all involved. If you have a little headway with yours perhaps it will get better but it does take time. They are not like mines because once they were caught they would scream bloody murder for the whole time.

I thinks yours will be fine. They are adorable and fun. some are more friendly than others and there are some that prefer not to interact but they will recognize you as their source of food and come to you.

In other words don't let my experience worry you. There has got to be some people on here who can give advice as to how they won their goats hearts over.

Hi everyone!

My name is Sim and I work for a reality television company in Los Angeles and currently we're looking for a show to develop around unique and quirky people who own goats! If you think this might be you or know someone who would be great for this please email me at SimLighthearted@gmail.com

Thanks!
Sim

Cattle panel are the safest way to keep goats confined.

Yes, worm them. Safeguard, Ivermectine.

Give all the hay, browse and pasture they will eat with a little goat pellets.

I am sure that there are as many experiences with goats as there are goats. I've had many goats for the past few decades, but certainly don't want to rain on anyone's parade. So I just wish you the best of luck and you will learn your own way on dealing with them. One word of advice though is to castrate the males and don't play with a goats horns.

Hi, I m new to this website and a very new goat owner. My Doe gave birth to two little girls 3 weeks ago. I am not able to get real close to her because she is not tame. She used to live on a secluded mountain. Anyway I noticed about a week ago she had something hanging from her tail. It looks like maybe a ligiment. It's about 2or3 inches long and about the width of a pencil around. I have called all the vets in my area and none of them do house calls or even work with large animals. I just need to know has anyone ever heard of this or know what I should do? She is not acting like its bothersome at all but I know it's gotta be painful! Can someone please help me with any information? I feel horrible for her.